Monday, September 11, 2006

I will always remember I woke up that day running late, something did not feel right...I will always remember the E train to the World Trade Center was slow as heck...I will always remember getting off the E train and as I go to exit at the turnstyle, a mob of people were running at me from the mall yelling, "Bomb!"...I will always remember that this cannot be happening...I will always remember that this is not real...

I will always remember being swept with the mob being forced to exit onto Vesey Street, right next to the post office on Chambers Street...I will always remember the tiny staircase up to the street being very narrow and barely fitting two people abreast...I will always remember wondering why people were so slow at the top of the staircase...I will always remember as I get to the top of the staircase exiting onto Vesey Street seeing a big f*cking, gaping black hole in the side of World Trade Center One...I will always remember seeing the big f*cking, gaping black hole in the side of WTC One on fire...I will always remember dodging the falling debris as I try to cross the street to go to One Liberty Plaza...I will always remember the chaos with the firemen, policemen, and EMT's in the area...I will always remember people sobbing and crying...I will always remember people standing in a state of shock during the surrealness of the whole scene...I will always remember that this cannot be happening...I will always remember that this is not real...

I will always remember making it to my building safely and finding other co-workers...I will always remember my co-workers telling me they were all scared and had to evacuate...I will always remember one of my coworkers was pregnant at the time and had to climb down 16 flights of stairs scared witless and worrying for her baby's safety...I will always remember talking to one of my coworkers and wondering what to do...I will always remember as I talk to him, he flinches and cringes...I will always remember asking him what happened and he said he thought he saw some people jump...I will always remember that this cannot be happening...I will always remember that this is not real...

I will always remember a mob of people running and shouting at us forcing us to go inside of One Liberty Plaza...I will always remember that the glass cracked all around as I felt what was like a small earthquake...I will always remember finding out that the people saw a plane heading into World Trade Center Two and running away...I will always remember what I thought was a small earthquake resulting in cracked glass was the 2nd plane hitting...I will always remember that this cannot be happening...I will always remember that this is not real...

I will always remember at that point to vacate the area immediately...I will always remember thinking I hope my wife is safe in Brooklyn, right over the Brooklyn Bridge...I will always remember I wondered if I would ever see her or my kids again...I will always remember walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, always looking back and only seeing smoke covering the WTC...I will always remember pi$$ing in my pants thinking what if the Bridge was going to be hit next or if there was a carbomb planted already as I walked over it with thousands of other people...I will always remember making it over the bridge and hearing the Marshals in the Federal Courts saying the WTC collapsed and thinking, "No f*cking way!"...I will always remember that this cannot be happening...I will always remember that this is not real...

I will always remember finding my wife and she was worried for me after seeing it all on TV...I will always remember how fortunate my wife's coworker was able to drive us home...I will always remember getting home just as my mother picked up my oldest daughter from pre-kindengarden with my 2nd daughter in the stroller...I will always remember having tears roll down my face as I go to hug my oldest daughter...I will always remember her asking, "Why are you crying, Daddy?" and I replied, "You will learn about today in school as you grow up and I will tell you then what happened."...I will always remember the jets flying overhead continously...I will always remember being glued to the tv in the wee hours of the morning watching the same footage over and over as my family slept and me not being able to sleep...I will always remember the next day, my wife's best friend calls saying her brother's girlfriend called him just prior to jumping...I will always remember that this cannot be happening...I will always remember that this is not real...

I will always remember finally going back to work after almost a week of staying home...I will always remember working in a sardine-packed room full of other displaced coworkers at one of our branches in their lunchroom working on laptops off of picnic tables...I will always remember working in that same room for a year before work has gone back to some semblance of normalcy...

I will always remember...

I will always remember 9/11/01.

* Dedicated to the heroes, victims, and their loved ones from 9/11/01 *

p.s. I posted this years ago on some forums. Anyway, I just needed to post this again.

Site Under Construction

Slowly but surely I've implemented changes to the site's look and functionality. I'm sure you have noticed the changes.Ecstatic that I've finally been able to successfully update my site closer more in line with my vision of it.

Not sure if it will be the final look of the site or not, but the Sojourn of Septillion Steps with respect to the site's look has already taken quite a few steps beyond the first!

I will still be endeavoring to put up information I think will benefit your martial arts training as well as your self-defense. I sincerely thank you for visiting/reading!